The Modern Hotelier #126: Modern Hotelier 2024 Wrap-Up | Highlights and Lessons Learned
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David Millili: Welcome to the Modern Hotelier 2024 wrap up.
Steve Carran: Man, we had a great year this year. Not only did we get recognized as one of the top podcasts in hospitality, um, we did over 75 episodes in 2024. To put that in comparison, the first two seasons were really good. We did 50 episodes total. So did more than the first two seasons combined and then some. So, uh, really great year on that aspect.
David Millili: Yeah, it's crazy. On LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram, we doubled our followers this year. On LinkedIn, we had over 200, 000 impressions this year alone, over 270, 000 YouTube views to date, and over 22, 000 downloads.
Steve Carran: That's awesome. And we don't, we don't, not only did the podcast right here, we were on the road as well. We went to Hitech, ILC in Sausalito, where we were their official podcast. And also the Hospitality Show, which those are some of the highlights of my year. Just being in person, seeing you guys and doing those live interviews.
David, what was one of your favorite moments from the year, this year?
David Millili: My favorite moment by far was when you told me somebody came up to you at high tech at a party and said they had no idea who the Modern Hotelier was. And then three of their employees came up and all three said that they, it was their favorite podcast and that they followed it. And, um, that, that was my favorite moment of the year.
Steve Carran: One of mine too. One of mine too. Jon, what about you?
Jon Bumhoffer: Yeah, my favorite moments, kind of you highlighted it, were the in person stuff, getting to do so many more in person podcasts and videos and interviews, I thought that was really cool. And then in particular, being at ILC in Sausalito and getting to interview JC Curley, for me was a highlight because he was, uh, he's the CEO of Pelican right now, I use Pelican cases, former CEO of Gibson Guitars.
I play guitar, I'm a musician, former CEO of Levi's, you know, I wear jeans, so you know, it's just kind of a cool, cool, cool thing to, to get to do that, so that was probably my biggest highlight. So now I'm gonna hijack it and stick to our normal format, I'm gonna get, I'm gonna ask maybe the last question here.
I'm curious, for you guys, what We got to interview so many cool people, so many awesome hoteliers, and, uh, and just leaders in the industry. What were the biggest, maybe the biggest lesson you learned this year, or the most impactful lessons that you learned, um, from the interviews that we had this year?
David Millili: I'll kick it off. So for me, something I already knew, but, um, you know, if you work with great people, great things can happen. And, you know, working with you guys, I felt like this year, you know, every year we've kind of upped our game, but when you work with great people, I think great things happen. And that's kind of what I've learned this year.
We continue to push forward. That's
Steve Carran: I, I agree with you on that one, David. I think, you know, kind of this, this was the first year I really went full time into podcasting. And I think it was kind of, not a gut check, but also one of those things where it's like, wow, there's a lot more that we can do and kind of what we do, what, what we can do.
goes into it. The planning, kind of making sure we have all the guests, and when we're traveling, we have our lineup there, we know what we're going to be doing, we know what we're going to be shooting. So it was just kind of, you know, now that I'm doing this full time, kind of understanding how we can not only grow this podcast, but also What all goes into it?
David Millili: great. And we really want to give a special thanks to all of our guests, our sponsors, but especially all of the followers who watch and listen. We really appreciate you.
Steve Carran: Yes, absolutely. And keep an eye out. We're not done yet. 2025 is gonna be even a bigger year. We have some big announcements coming in the next couple weeks. So stay tuned. You'll be hearing from us soon.
David Millili: All right. Happy
Steve Carran: Happy Holidays. 
Merry Christmas.